Above the Rim: Londonderry boys basketball in the midst of a brutal stretch

Nate Stanton knew his Londonderry High School boys basketball was going to face its toughest stretch of the season from mid-January into the first week of February.

Through the first month of the season, the Lancers played just five games and sat at 3-2 in Division I. From Jan. 22 to Feb. 6, a span of 15 days, Londonderry was scheduled to play seven games, two each against Merrimack and Pinkerton, along with games against Nashua South, Salem and Winnacunnet.

It hasn't gone well so far, as Londonderry has lost the first three of those games to Merrimack, South and Salem and fallen below .500.

After the Lancers lost in overtime Monday at South, Stanton felt his team would come out at the other end a better group than when it started.

"I think it will help us in the long run," Stanton said. "My goal is always to be in the top four and I think we can be. It's still early enough in the season, we've just got to learn from this quickly and move on."

Londonderry won't get any favors from its schedule, as it has the toughest one in the division this year, thanks to those two games with Merrimack and Pinkerton and none against the two teams - Concord and Pembroke - at the bottom of the standings.

"Our goal is to be top four," Stanton said. "This year is wide open. The next two weeks will show whether we're going to step up and be that competitive team, or we’re going to be middle of the pack."

The Lancers play Winnacunnet (6-2) at home Friday night, then play at Pinkerton (7-1) and at Merrimack (6-2) on Feb. 1 and 4. They follow that up by hosting Pinkerton on Feb. 6 and then host Manchester Central. Fortunately for Londonderry, it gets six days off before that game.

Back in the mix

If it weren't for bad luck, South's Max Osgood might not have any at all.

The junior forward missed the start to the basketball season after suffering a broken wrist during the Turkey Bowl, the annual football game between North and South played on Thanksgiving Day.

Osgood didn't play in the team's first four division games and sat out all of the Chick-Fil-A Holiday Tournament, but returned to play in wins over Bishop Guertin and Concord.

And then the bad luck returned.

"We lost to Exeter on Friday (Jan. 22), and we lost that game Wednesday (Jan. 20) at 8:15 a.m.," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "(Osgood) rolled his ankle in P.E. class. I hate the Turkey Bowl and I hate P.E. class."

Osgood returned for South for wins over Londonderry and Merrimack this week, but is still working to get up to speed with the Panthers. Despite that, his presence has helped take some pressure off the backcourt duo of DJ Frechette and Kevin Genao.

"He wasn't a hundred percent, but he's a presence in the post, he can score," Mazerolle said. "He'll get to that point. It opens things up for that offense we've been trying to run. Rebounding, a presence in the middle, all that stuff. We're not as deep as we would like, but certain guys started to show things."

At 6-3, South is in the middle of things in Division I. The Panthers are off Friday before starting a stretch of three straight road games that includes Salem, Nashua North and Winnacunnet.